Prosecutors Drop Charges in Sensational Child-Abuse Case

Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all 1,200 counts of child abuse filed against a man who had been accused of molesting and beating two of his children and two stepchildren over a four-year period in a case that shocked this city.

Lesser charges against his wife also were dismissed in a separate court hearing later in the day.

Andrea Zopp, first assistant to the Cook County state’s attorney, said the prosecutor’s office couldn’t prove its case because the three oldest children involved continue to deny their original tales of physical abuse, drug injections and meals of rats and roaches. They first recanted publicly in an interview last month with the Chicago Tribune.

According to his lawyer, 52-year-old Gerald Hill had one reaction when the 2-foot-high stack of charges against him was thrown out: “I’m happy.”

Hill intends to petition the county’s juvenile court for custody of the children, now ranging in age from 5 to 12. The state, alleging neglect, had taken them from their mother, Barbara Hill, and placed them with their older brother. The children told the Tribune that their brother’s fiancee encouraged the stories they later told hospital therapists.

After their denials, the state transferred the children to the care of health professionals.

Martha Allen, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said: “We still believe the children were sexually abused,” based on the conclusions of “very highly respected” interviewers at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Zopp said the state’s attorney will argue that the children should remain in protective custody.

Hill has had no contact with the children since he was charged and jailed in December. The abuse allegations covered a period from 1989 through early 1994.

“These children have been through a lot,” said Elliott Price, Hill’s lawyer. Hill “wants to consult some professionals of his own choice to see what’s best for them.”

Cook County Criminal Court Judge Mary Maxwell Thomas praised the prosecutor’s “candor and courage” in dropping the case, but added: “This should be a stern warning to prosecutors everywhere that they should carefully examine sensational allegations before taking steps that may wreak havoc on the lives of alleged perpetrators.”